Thanksgiving Fun

We are so grateful to the Gee Family for hosting such a fun day with delicious food, Rock Band, potatoe guns, movies, and more. Unfortunately, I never thought to get everyone together for a group picture so these are just a few of the happenings from the night. Izzy and Ella Joy were hanging out with the wigs on, so Cianne and I followed after them. The dads had a great time on Rock Band and Ella Joy was very into singing. It was hard to get the mic from her. We capped off the night watching Iron Man while the kids played/slept upstairs. Thanks Rachel and Chris for a very memorable Thanksgiving!

Primary Program

Ella Joy participated in her first Primary Program at Church on Sunday. We had practice on Saturday night. I told her what her line was and she practiced it over and over again into the microphone while David was practicing the songs. Typically, a teacher will whisper in young children's ear what to say but Ella Joy had her part down and so she eloquently yelled into the microphone, "I am a child of God and he has a plan for me." Noah also had a part that he read very well. It was fun working with all the children. They sang songs in Spanish and English and did a beautiful job.

Baby Shower

My friends from the Spanish branch at Church threw a shower for me. It was a lot of fun with lots of food, games, and cute baby clothes. I was so grateful to get some new girl clothes. I thought I was set but realized that all my itty bitty clothes were for the summer. I received lots of cute and warm outfits for Baby Julia to wear this winter.

Everyone was Kung Fu Fighting

What my kids do for fun. I don't even know why we have toys. Their favorite after bath activity is to put fleece socks on their hands and feet and kung fu fight in the living room. Noah is very good at reacting to Ella Joy's ferocious punch. Afterwards there is snuggle time on the sofa.

Halloween and Lucky Socks

Halloween was so much fun! Noah dressed up as an army man and Ella Joy was a frog. I love Halloween in Winston-Salem! The neighborhood around the hospital is very into the holiday so we head over there to do our trick or treating. There is one road that the city blocks off so that cars can't pass. Its wonderful because most everyone is sitting on their porches waiting for trick or treaters. I opted on not taking the stroller because I thought Ella Joy would never stay in it. However, I was worried that she would get tired or be to slow. How wrong I was as she ran from house to house keeping up with Noah! It was so fun to see her catch on that every house had candy for her. Several times during the night we took picnic breaks on people's lawns and would eat chocolate. All 3 of us prefer chocolate over candy. Sadly, by the time we got home there was hardly any chocolate in our bags. Noah informed me that we would not be taking picnics next year.

And about the cat. This is Lucky Socks. He, she, it adopted us. He was the neighborhood that cat would come over now and again. Then Noah told me he was hungry and we bought a bag of cat food. Now he is our cat. Noah feeds him everyday, worries when he is shivering outside, and has made a bed in our garage for him. He is quite a unique, as you can see, Lucky is not too picky about how he is carried around. This is how Ella Joy picks him up and he just hangs there, doesn't try to get away or scratch. So depending on where we move Lucky may become a new family member as well.

Welcoming Lucy Pearl

As most of you know Boots was my mom's 7th child. After a long and very fun-filled life he passed away in May this past year. We miss him and all have wonderful memories of him. He was quite unique. My mom wasn't sure if she wanted to get another dog, but after meeting Lucy we couldn't resist. She looks like Boots, but in white. She has a sweet, calm temperment. She is a very easy going dog. We have decided to make her truly a "Stier family" pet. While her permanent residence is with my mom on Berl-mar, she has spent time with Jody at Clemson as well as time with me here in Winson-Salem. Noah and Ella Joy absolutely adore her. We are so excited to have her as the newest member of our family!

If you were wondering...

how I've grown, this is me at 7 months. Yes, 2 months to go!

At the Apple Festival

Beautiful apples! They had apple everything. We tried apple pie icecream, an apple cider slush. Both were delicious!!

Noah trying out some of the old fashion games. The lady in charge of this event was hard core. She was dressed in traditional Moravian attire yelling at everyone, "Lift your knees!" Then when you fell, she would yell again, "Hold on to the stilts, don't let them hit the ground." It was quite intense.

David and Noah playing tug of war with about 5 children on the other side. And you can bet that David didn't let them win just because they are children.